In a surprise reversal, President Obama has decided against signing legislation to extend the Iran Sanctions Act for another 10 years, but the White House said it was allowing the bill to become law even without his signature.
The White House said on Dec. 2 that it saw the bill that easily passed the House and Senate as “unnecessary,” but said Obama would sign it anyway.
But in an early Thursday morning statement, the White House said Obama wouldn’t sign it after all.
“This administration has made clear that an extension of the Iran Sanctions Act, while unnecessary, is entirely consistent with our commitments in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),” the statement said. “Consistent with this longstanding position, the extension of the Iran Sanctions Act is becoming law without the President’s signature.”
Republicans and Democrats have said they want the option of sanctions under the law extended, in order to keep some leverage over Iran as it implements the nuclear agreement, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The White House stressed again that this wasn’t needed, and that it “continues to use, all of the necessary authorities to waive the relevant sanctions, to enforce those that are outside the scope of the JCPOA, and to reimpose sanctions if necessary in the event that Iran should fail to perform its commitments under the JCPOA.”
Secretary of State John Kerry backed up that stance in a Thursday morning statement of his own.
“This administration has made it clear that an extension of the Iran Sanctions Act is not necessary either to address activity outside the scope of the JCPOA or to snap back sanctions in the event Iran should significantly fail to perform its nuclear commitments,” he said. “Even if ISA were to have lapsed, we would continue to have all the authorities we need in place to address those issues.”
